Mulberry Street Pizzeria - San Rafael, CA - (415) 472-7272 - Food Network 2005 Pizza Battle Winners

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Awards & News About
Mulberry's Street Pizzeria

Is it any wonder why the Food Network™ television show awarded Mulberry Street Pizzeria the award for the best tasting pizza in America? Was it Ted's original style of pizza flavoring, or the unique blend and selection of ingredients or maybe it's just the magic he brings to the kitchen which keeps people coming back again and again to his restaurant, Mulberry Street Pizzeria in San Rafael, California.

Winners of the "Best Pizza" Award
Pacific Sun (Best Of Marin)

What other pizzeria can you cite that’s owned by a man who used to be chief of police at CSU Hayward? Mulberry Street’s chef/owner Ted Rowe has been in the business for 20 years and has an impressive pedigree; he’s also a professional food writer for Bellissimo Foods and for Pizza Today magazine.

Ted runs a full-service restaurant with a large wine selection. Wife Barbara does the accounting and bookkeeping. Ted’s business philosophy is "to train staff well to make excellent pizzas." Customers love the mostly vegetarian homemade soups, while "For the Love of Mushroom" is their top-selling pizza. Do yourself a favor and check out their thin-crust, hand thrown pies. And by the way, the restaurant is named after the main street that runs through Little Italy in New York.

PacificSun.com (PDF Format)
Page 36, 3/23 Issue

Winners of the 2005 Food Network Challenge
Episode ACSP05

Challenge: Pizza Battle
Pizza Challenge: five teams meet at the Great Big Food Show in Cleveland to show off their tastiest pies and throw some dough.

JUDGES:
Chef Mario Batali
Big Dave Ostrander
Ed Levine

Celebrity judges, including Mario Batali, rate the pizzas on three criteria: the bake, the presentation, and the taste.

COMPETITORS:
Team California: Chef Ted Rowe, Tony Gemignani
Team New York: Chef Francesco Ilardi (ILARDI), Joe C.
Team Chicago: Chef Marc Stolfe, Chris Green
Team Ohio: Chef Sean Brauser, Michael Shepherd
Team South: Chef Santo Bruno, Silar Chapman


The dough used for competitive tossing is real pizza dough, made with high gluten and high protein flour. Competitors sometimes practice with rubber dough forms.	The man to beat, Tony Gemignani from Team California, shows the form that has won five past world tossing championships. He was truly amazing at this show.

For the Love of Mushrooms Pizza (Recipe)

Recipe courtesy Ted Rowe, Chef/Owner,
Mulberry Street Pizza

Show: Food Network ChallengeEpisode:

Challenge: Pizza Battle

PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION OF THIS RECIPE

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FOR THE LOVE OF MUSHROOM PIZZA (RECIPE)
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3 portobello mushroom caps
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound pizza dough, preferably whole wheat
1/2 cup crème fraiche, plus more for garnish
1/2 recipe Mushroom Saute, recipe follows
10 ounces grated whole milk mozzarella
4 ounces grated provolone
4 ounces grated aged provolone
Wine Sauces, recipe follows

Special equipment: heart-shaped cookie cutter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Slice portobellos crosswise to make 6 rounds. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Cook portobello rounds, in batches, until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Drain and cut out heart shapes with a cookie cutter. Set aside.

Shape dough out onto a round 14-inch pizza screen or pan. Spoon a thin layer of creme fraiche onto the dough. Spread Mushroom Saute over the pizza. Sprinkle pizza evenly with the three cheeses and top with Portobello hearts.

Bake the pizza for about 15 minutes, or until the cheeses are melted and lightly browned. Remove pizza from the oven, drizzle zig zag lines of both red wine sauces, dot with creme fraiche and serve.

Mushroom Saute:
4 ounces (1 stick) butter
1/4 cup chopped garlic
2 pounds white mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
3/4 cup heavy cream

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute about 1 to 2 minutes without browning the garlic. Add mushrooms and cook until all the liquid is reduced. Add the black pepper, parsley, and heavy cream, cook for 2 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Cool until needed.

*Note: recipe will make enough for more than one pizza. Mixture can be frozen for future pizzas, used in a pasta dish with a little extra cream and additional ingredients, or it can also be used as the base for a world class cream of mushroom soup!

Yield: enough for 2 pizzas

Wine Sauces:
2 (750-ml) bottles red wine (2 different varietals)
1 cup crème fraiche

In 2 separate saucepans, bring each wine to a boil. Boil to reduce each to about 2 ounces.

Combine 1/2 cup crème fraiche with 1 ounce of first red wine reduction. Add small amounts of the remaining 1 ounce of the reduction to taste. Do the same with the second red wine reduction.

Yield: about 3/4 cup of each sauce
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